It
"Either you give us the girl, and you can keep using the Chapa'ai. Or you refuse. And we will still have the girl. But you will not be keeping much of your planet."
was
"… you give us the girl, and you can keep using the Chapa'ai. Or you refuse. And we will still have the girl. But you will not be keeping much..."
replaying
"… give us the girl … can keep using the Chapa'ai… you refuse… we will still have the girl. But you will not be keeping much..."
In
"…give us the girl … keep using the Chapa'ai. … we will still have the girl… you will not be keeping much..."
Her
"… give us the girl … we will still have the girl… you will not be keeping ..."
Head.
"…we will still have the girl..."
She had managed to fuck things up.
So.
Freaking.
Much.
Say, how screwed are you, indeed.
"We were ready to the unfolding of the events," the crimson was spreading on general Hammond's face from the neck, faster and faster the longer the man spoke. His voice didn't have the warm lilt that Barbara came to associate with the General. "You provided us with the information! You had to know that we will have this under control!"
The Secretary of Defense was standing by the General. His face was devoid of any emotion, but Barbara cringed every time she looked at him. And he was keeping mum, silently judging her.
I really outdid myself with this stunt.
"Can you even imagine how much damage you could cause? Or your information?" snarled O'Neill. He was standing next to Barbara. The rest of SG-1 were standing near the door of the office. She couldn't see their faces, but she knew they were disgusted with her. At least Dr. Jackson was also here. He could translate for her.
"I just wanted to help! To prevent injuries to Teal'c!" the girl exclaimed, looking at the general.
"You know absolutely well enough that he would have been fine…." O'Neill took it on himself to respond to Barbara's outburst after Daniel had translated what she had said.
"At the end, yes! I know he has his symbiont. But its powers are not limitless! It still would have hurt Teal'c!" she quickly turned to look at the colonel, staring him right in the eye. Teal'c was standing outside of Barbara's vision but perfectly well inside O'Neill's. The Jaffa raised both his eyebrows after he had heard the translation. Daniel and Sam, who were standing beside their local alien, winced. The accusation that Jack was not carrying for Teal'c's wellbeing rang clear. The adults standing around the room could all feel the rising tension in the almost negligible hum of the electricity around them.
"Barbara, while we try to deal with the consequences of the events of the first session, you will be in your room," the goal of the order worded as a suggestion was clear to all. Daniel and Sam quickly led the girl out of the office, heading to her room. Teal'c was closing the procession, just in case.
"Teal'c," Jack called out to the Jaffa. The alien looked back at his friend. "You know that I…"
"Indeed," Teal'c nodded his head slowly and deliberately before continuing out of the room. He knew, and he appreciated it.
The System Lords were given private rooms, and they were also provided with a common room, where they had converged after the first session.
"This is outrageous! What could you even want with this girl!" Nirrti was seething, lounging on one of the armchairs provided for their comfort.
"The girl has information of the future events!" crowed Cronus as he was standing over the bowl of grapes. He deliberately picked a few of them before tossing one up and catching it with his mouth. "It will be a great advantage over our enemies! And especially if the Tauri won't have access to it! She might even have the rest of the Chapa'ai addresses!" The System lord squeezed the rest of the grapes in his hand, their juice covering his fingers.
Yu, who was sitting at the table with a cup of freshly brewed green tea, looked in mild disgust at the mess Cronus made, not bothering to hide his disgust as the other Goa'uld deposited the squeezed berries on the table.
"The information that… Barbara… might have been more than likely all about these pesky humans. I won't be surprised that it might become irrelevant after this deal has passed through."
Cronus snorted before grabbing the bowl with the rest of the grapes and settling down at the other armchair.
"Even so, she is not bad on the eye…, and if she is from another race, it is even better," Cronus mused as he threw another grape in the air before catching it with his mouth. Yu chuckled in agreement with the other System Lord.
Nirrti shuddered. Even though she was agender, her body was that of a female for now, and she could feel the goosebumps up her back. She would not let Cronus have her. But if she was from another race, maybe she had some interesting genetic traits she could use in her research. Who knew what other secrets she had held inside herself? She will have to look further into it.
And maybe while she was at it, she could find a way to kill Cronus after all.
Thor was warned not to try and beam Barbara out of her room by O'Neill. He had easily agreed to that in exchange for some DNA samples from the colonel. The man had obliged without too much fuss but with a lot of confusion.
He will make it up for them. He did make the promise to Barbara, after all.
And Thor kept his promises. Always.
"We are not giving her up. Even for the Stargate," growled O'Neill, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands. After his teammates led the reality traveler out, general Hammond, the Secretary of Defense, and he stayed discussing the consequences of the interference. The outlook was grim.
"The girl had painted a huge target mark on the whole planet!" The secretary threw his hands up. He really admired the ideology of living no one behind that was operating at the base, but right now, it was very inappropriate, in his opinion. The girl was of Earth, but she was not theirs! It was admirable that she cared that much for their Earth's safety, but this move of hers would cost them dearly. She should have left everything as it is. She had previously mentioned, according to the information provided by the general, that SG-1 always came out on top of the situation. And even more often than not, it came with huge benefits for the Earth. She should just stick to being an informant.
"We will overcome it. Barbara did say on numerous occasions that we always come out on top!" countered the colonel. He really wanted to kick the Secretary for even suggesting that they trade the girl.
General Hammond looked at the men who were sitting in the chairs in front of his table. Both were raising valid points, both having compelling arguments. Both wanted the best for the Earth and for all its inhabitants.
"We will keep emphasizing that she is not from the Earth and that she can't be used as a bargaining chip," Hammond summed up the thoughts of all present in his office. "But if it won't work, we will not be exchanging her for the Stargate."
Barbara was again in her room at the base. She was led here directly after the reprimands by the upper echelon of SGC. And now, she was not allowed to leave the room. Just in case she would say something else.
Why couldn't I keep quiet? The less changing, the fewer problems for me!
She was pacing the room like a wild animal, from one end to another. Don't get her wrong. She understood why they did it. She did not have to like it. She really wanted only the best for the SGC and this Earth.
But she also wanted home. She really, really-really, wanted home. Among the methods that she had tried to wake herself up were several that she was not yet brave enough to try. Destroying her phone, the catalysator of the adventure. And her own death.
Barbara kept pacing, trying to loosen up her muscles. She had already lost how many circles she had managed to make around the room, and she was starting to have a problem with turning. If she had stopped her pacing for just a bit and let herself time to stop, she would have heard a grown and a noise characteristic of two things: a sack full of potatoes and a body, both falling down.